Posted on 04/28/2013 10:00:58 AM PDT by markomalley
The story of a Long Island Catholic ousted from his parish jobs for marrying his male partner generated headlines, outrage and an 18,000-signature petition to Bishop William Murphy to have Nicholas Coppola reinstated.
But now the tale has an odd coda: Murphy, who heads the Diocese of Rockville Centre, mailed the petitions back to Coppola with a one-line cover letter on the bishop’s stationery that reads: “FROM YOUR FAITHFUL ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP.”
No signature, nothing else.
What’s more, instead of sending the package to Faithful America, one of the liberal advocacy groups that has taken up Coppola’s cause, Murphy’s office sent it to Faith in Public Life, a social justice lobby based in Washington. Faith in Public Life forwarded the package to Faithful America, which said it received it on Tuesday (April 23).
“I really don’t understand what sort of message Bishop Murphy is trying to send,” Coppola said in a statement provided by GLAAD, a gay rights organization that has also been promoting his case. “Is he no longer listening to the voices of the faithful? I have more questions than anything now.”
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
So, Coppola does not understand what message Bishop Murphy is trying to send. Maybe he should concentrate on the word Faithful. Mr. Coppola, your Bishop is telling you that he is faithful to the teachings of our Catholic Faith. Was that not simple enough for you to comprehend?
Maybe they should look at the 18,000 who signed the petition and begin excommunication proceedings?
The Bishop is correct. An on-line petition can be signed by anyone Catholic, pagan or atheist.
Even if every single signature was verified to be Catholic it would make no difference. The Bishop can not ignore what this priest has done and does not have the power or the right to reinstate an unrepentant priest who has committed these sort of offences.
It’s an online petition. Might as well excommunicate characters from a novel.
It’s a layman, not a priest. The bishop has done the right thing.
Now the question is: How long will it take Cardinal Dolan to seize the opportunity to have dinner with the gay couple?
5.....4.....3.....2.....
About as long as it takes to give Joe Biden Communion.
I hope they ex-communicated all those who signed it
Insisting homosexuality be accepted as a good in not faithful. Nor is the faith a democracy - it would not matter if 18 billion so-called faithful had signed the petition.
1) There is no gay gene, and 2) the parts don’t fit.
wow, my estimation of Dolan improved a teensy bit
That Dolan isn’t Cardinal Dolan.
oh ok, I did think it unusual.......
The Bishop seems to be saying that "the faithful" should listen to the Bishop and to the Bible. The activists are saying the Bishop should listen to a selected subset of (real or fictional) petition signers rather than to the faithful and to the Bible. It should be obvious which side is correct.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.